Messenger thrills with political drama
One of the few things more thrilling than a movie documenting journalistic exposure and government conspiracy is knowing that the film in question is based on a true story. Michael Cuesta’s Kill the Messenger delivers all that and more in a gripping tale of secrecy and lies — all supported by the all-star performance of Jeremy Renner. The film is every bit as exciting as it is sobering, and has the potential to become an instant classic as a tribute to the unsung heroes behind the headlines.
Under pressure · Jeremy Renner puts in an oscar-worthy performance as Gary Webb, a journalist who uncovered a major government conspiracy. – Photo courtesy of Focus Features
Renner plays American journalist Gary Webb, who in 1996 is working as a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. He is contacted by Coral Baca (Paz Vega), the girlfriend of a cocaine distributor in legal trouble who provides Webb evidence that the Central Intelligence Agency is linked to the selling of cocaine in America. Her box of evidence leads Webb to cocaine tycoon “Freeway” Ricky Ross (Michael Kenneth Williams) and his defense attorney Alan Fenster (Tim Blake Nelson).
They back up Baca’s theory — and Webb finds himself in Nicaragua and Washington D.C., writing the story of his life to expose the government. In both the movie and in real life, Webb alleged that the CIA during the 1980s deliberately funneled profits from the cocaine trade to support the Contras; a group in Nicaragua who the CIA hoped would overthrow Nicaragua’s communist government. Webb further alleged that the CIA shielded arrested traffickers from prosecution, and it was these actions that led to the cocaine epidemic that has swept the United States, particularly South Central Los Angeles, since the 1980s.
But the story of Webb’s life ultimately becomes what threatens it — and when his series of articles, dubbed “Dark Alliance,” run online and in print, higher powers both in the government and other news outlets that missed the story take aim at Webb’s credibility as a journalist. Webb finds himself struggling to choose between mending his disintegrating family and proving the truth behind his story. Though the CIA eventually admitted the connection in a 400 plus page report two years later, Webb’s life and career is forever changed.
Kill the Messenger puts the conflicts faced by modern day muckrakers in very real terms, and as Webb’s life disintegrates, it subtly urges viewers to wonder if “some stories are just too true to tell.” In the mind of journalists, there is a moment of indecision before every story where the writer reconciles the need to tell the truth with the blowback of telling it. Renner and the cast behind him beautifully document that struggle.
What will ultimately set Kill the Messenger apart from the rest of the politically charged thrillers in recent years (looking at you, The Fifth Estate) is that the saga of Gary Webb is a true story that most people aren’t aware of, which makes it a welcome addition to a populace who are both tired and already aware of the stories behind folks like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. As the film notes, most of the fallout from Webb’s exposé and subsequent character assassination, which took place at the end of the ’90s, was swallowed by the much more significant and headline-sexy Monica Lewinsky scandal.
But, as the stories of Snowden and Assange continue to write themselves, the film’s beautiful recollection is all too relevant to today’s debate — and its controversial nature primes it for box-office success.
Kill the Messenger also balances a political story with an exploration of the tragic hero as Webb’s professional life begins dragging skeletons from his personal life closet, leaving a growing rift between Webb and children and wife Sue (Rosemarie DeWitt). DeWitt, who met with the real-life Sue Webb prior to filming, brings a depth and understanding to Sue Webb that is quite well done — and her performance is surely worthy of consideration for a supporting actress Oscar. Through it all, Renner is able to humanize Webb’s external and internal struggles in a way reminiscent of Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal of Abraham Lincoln or Russell Crowe’s portrayal of John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, and he deserves both praise and Oscar consideration as a result.
In the 1960 film Inherit the Wind, Gene Kelly’s character E.K. Hornbeck preaches, “it is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Kill the Messenger will refresh and inspire viewers of the timeless nature of that insight, and remind them that newspapers, too, are not free of scrutiny. In that regard, it will leave audiences with more questions than answers, and certainly with more mistrust of the powers that be. Because of that, the movie carries the legacy of Gary Webb’s career and passion for truth forward — all while paying a fitting tribute to the men and women behind the stories.